Employment law and civil litigation representation in Denver, Colorado

Woman says she was fired from college for premarital sex

Under the employment laws of Colorado and most other states, someone who believes that he or she was fired from his or her job due to one of several forms of discrimination has the right to sue for wrongful termination. The most well-known forms of employment discrimination are probably racial and gender discrimination. Today we will discuss a fairly unusual form of sex and marital status discrimination that the former employee of a college is alleging against her former employer.

The woman says that she was fired from San Diego Christian College because she was pregnant. She became pregnant by her now-husband when they were still dating. When she was two months pregnant, the woman, who is currently six months into her pregnancy, was fired from her position as a financial aid specialist. According to the woman’s attorney, the school’s human resources director informed the woman that she was being fired for having premarital sex.

That may certainly seem like an unusual condition of employment to readers. A document that the college requires employees to sign will likely be an important issue in this case. In its “community covenant contract,” San Diego Christian College requires all employees to avoid “sexually immoral behavior.” The contract prohibits things like premarital sex and homosexuality among its workers. According to the attorney, such preconditions to employment violate state law.

The plaintiff is also claiming gender discrimination against the school. She says that her husband was offered a job at the college even though he had also had premarital sex.

Source: The Denver Channel, “Pregnant woman says San Diego Christian College fired her for having premarital sex,” Feb. 26, 2013